More than 600 breweries will take part in this year’s GABF (photo provided by the Brewers Association).

Updated: 4:30 p.m. with comments about the Brewers Association getting close to announcing how the 2014 competition will be restructured and interview with Mike Bristol of Bristol Brewing.

Eleven Colorado breweries that were stuck in the purgatory of the Great American Beer Festival participating brewery waiting list have been granted access to the event, organizers confirmed Tuesday.

A fortunate handful – Hogshead Brewing of Denver, newbie Twelve Degree Brewing of Louisville, Copper Club Brewing of Fruita, Mountain Sun of Denver and Gore Range Brewery in Edwards – will be permitted to both pour at the festival and enter their beers in the competition.

Fusco said other breweries were contacted about coming off the wait list, but said no thanks.

“Such breweries would of course have to speak for themselves, but we can speculate that for some it was because the invitation was for Festival Only (that is, it did not include competition entries, only a festival booth),” Fusco said in an e-mail.

The BA upped the number of participating breweries to 616 but said it still limited contest entries because there are only so many judges to go around. Last year’s festival featured an all-time high 580 breweries, and originally the plan was to feature about 600 breweries this year.

The wait-listed breweries got the good news after BA officials went though all the applications closely over the past couple weeks, searching for ineligible breweries and other issues.

“As a result of all parties being caught off guard, we did what we could to accommodate as many festival breweries in the hall as possible,” Fusco said. “It’s imperfect, but it does represent more of our members being in the hall and pouring for their fans. A long-term solution is still in the works.”

Fusco said the BA has batted around many ideas and hopes to have an announcement as soon as week’s end on how it plans to restructure the competition for 2014.

“With a competition this size, it’s that classic analogy – it’s not easy to turn a battleship,” she said.

Bristol Brewing owner Mike Bristol took his predicament – pouring on the floor, but no beers in the competition – in stride. The demand took everyone off guard, including him, he said. He does not fault the BA and thinks it was only fair to honor the established first-come, first-served process.

“I think we have to have a discussion about the longer term,” Bristol said. “I know they don’t want to see and I don’t want to see the breweries that are are good at getting concert tickets – people lined up with five computers to get registered.”

Bristol floated the idea of regional festivals – as others have – or a system that somehow balances honoring established breweries who come to GABF year after year and making room for new breweries hungry for the platform it affords.

He pointed out the BA uses a lottery system for its increasingly popular SAVOR food and beer pairing festival, and suggested something modified to be more sophisticated than just random.

For what it’s worth, the 20-time GABF participant said if he had to choose between entering the contest and being on the floor, he’d choose the floor even though his brewery has done well in the competition, collecting 13 medals over the years.

“I’m glad we are going to pour,” Bristol said. “For me, the floor part has been more important, even though we have been successful in the judging. Just so we can interact with customers. We try to get as many employees there as possible. It’s important that that see craft beer is an amazing thing.”

By our rough count, more than 90 Colorado breweries will be pouring in the GABF hall this year, accounting for 15 percent of the participating breweries. Newcomers include BRU Handbuilt Ales and Eats of Boulder, Cannonball Creek Brewing Company of Golden, Denver alleyway nanobrewery De Steeg Brewing, FATE Brewing of Boulder, Odyssey Beerwerks of Arvada, Our Mutual Friend Malt & Brew in Denver’s Five Points/RINO ‘hood, West Flanders Brewing Co. of Boulder, Wild Woods Brewery of Boulder and Black Bottle Brewery in Fort Collins. (CORRECTION: This is year two for BRU.)

The most glaring omission is Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, the most talked-about brewery in the state. Brewer Chad Yakobson’s delicate and complex sour and wild beers have made him a rising star on the American craft brewing scene and Crooked Stave won its first GABF medal last year.

Our new iPad app serves as a guide to metro Denver’s bountiful breweries, beer bars and bottle shops, the holy trinity of craft beer enjoyment for followers and fans. Download the app for iPad .
Next time you head for a beer in Boulder, don’t forget your friend, Beers of Boulder and Boulder County, an iPad app from the Daily Camera. Download the app for iPad .

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In Colorado, our pint glasses overflow with excellent beer. New breweries, new batches, festivals every other week. How lucky are we? First Drafts is The Denver Post's beer blog aimed at helping you keep tabs on the state's ever-expanding craft beer culture. We offer a mash of news, event coverage, homegrown stories, tasting notes and tips to help you imbibe. Expert drinker or homebrewer? Let us know what you're loving about Colorado's beer scene. Not sure exactly what a firkin is? No worries, let us be your guide. Go ahead. Belly up and drink it in!